Wheel holding and centering apparatus



Dec. 8, 1959 v. DUQUESNE WHEEL HOLDING AND CENTERING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 27, 1956 United States Patent WHEEL HOLDING AND CENTERING APPARATUS Victor Duquesne, Antwerp, Belgium Application December 27, 1956, Serial No. 630,826

1 Claim. (Cl. 144-288) The present invention has for object an apparatus for centering and locking wheels of automotive vehicles upon a sustaining plate around a central bar axially traversing said plate, for the purpose of mounting or removing tires from the rims of said wheels, while using tools directly associated with the apparatus. The invention has for object an improved construction of the apparatus described in applicants co-pending application Ser. No. 476,965, filed December 22, 1954, and which matured into Patent No. 2,845,969. The invention has for object a simplified construction of such apparatus in which the centering and holding means afford a steadier position of the wheel body.

Fig. 1 is an axial section of the centering apparatus for wheel bodies.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

With reference to the drawing, the apparatus according to the invention, comprises a hollow column 31 with a base 31'. The column 31 is provided with a longitudinal slot 32 and fitted inside with a transverse spindle 33 located backwards of the slot 32 and approximately in front of the middle of the slot. Upwards the column ends in a sustaining plate 34 for the wheel body. The central part of the plate presents a cavity 36, the bottom therefrom being machined with an axial bore in an embossing which forms a hub 35 and the inner upper edge of the cavity is perfectly coaxial with said bore. The bore of the hub 35 is frictionally engaged by the lower end of the bar 37 and the portion 38 of greater diameter of said bar is threaded and this threaded portion 38 presents a shoulder taking seat on the upper edge of the hub 35. In this way the threaded portion 38 is positioned axially erect in the cavity 36 and projects slightly above said plate 34. A set screw 39 screws radially into 2,916,065 Patented Dec. 8, 1959 the embossing of the hub 35 for steadying the bar 37 in operative position by engagement of its terminal point within a corresponding notch of the bar 37. The frustoconical member 40 of which the upper base is enlarged in a disc 40 screws upon the threaded portion 38 of the bar 37 and the conicity of the member 40 is accurately machined to cooperate with the upper edge of the cavity 36. The disc 40' has a hole 41 to be engaged by the terminal bent in of a lever 41', for the purpose of screwing the cone member 40 close down when a wheel body is to be centered and locked upon the plate 34.

I claim:

In an apparatus for mounting and removing tires from a wheel body having a central opening, comprising a base provided with a supporting plate for the wheel body, a central removable bar axially arranged within a central cavity of cylindrical shape axially provided in the supporting plate, wheel centering and locking means cooperating with said supporting plate and consisting in an inverted frusto-conical member screwing along a threaded portion of said axial bar, said threaded portion extending partly inside said cavity and partly above said supporting plate and leaving upper and lower ends of said bar of smaller diameter than the threaded portion, a central axial hub member formed upon the bottom of said cavity, the lower end portion of the central bar accurately engaging said hub member and the threaded portion of the central bar shouldering upon the upper edge of said hub member, a set screw locking the central bar in axial position in said hub member and the inverted frusto-conical member having its upper enlarged base extending beyond the inner edge of the entrance of said cavity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,065,644 Bristol Dec. 29, 1936 2,075,421 Bennett Mar. 30, 1937 2,171,282 Wochner Aug. 29, 1939 2,471,642 Moltz May 31, 1949 2,569,789 Weaver Oct. 2, 1951 2,609,038 Henderson Sept. 2, 1952 2,708,954 Schultz May 24, 1955 2,808,860 Hildebrant Oct. 8, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 525,744 Belgium Jan. 30, 1954 

